


An Unfair Bet

by boywonder



Category: Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1270444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boywonder/pseuds/boywonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin makes a calculated bet over a game of Mario Kart. </p><p> </p><p>note: I may have fudged canon slightly to make this work. I hope you'll forgive me; it's been awhile since I read YJ in its entirety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unfair Bet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moontyger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moontyger/gifts).



“How about whoever loses the most at Mario Kart buys ice cream for everyone else?” Kon suggested, a lopsided grin sliding onto his face.

“You're on! I'll get the N64 hooked up!” Bart said. He was off down the hall before anyone else could say anything or stop him. Kon laughed after him, though whether Bart heard or not was anyone's guess.

“Loser. You're gonna lose,” Slobo said, though he made no move to actually follow the speedster. He just stood there looking smug.

Cassie made a face. “I hate Mario Kart,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Then _you_ don't have to _play_ ,” Kon said, leaning towards her. She rolled her eyes at him and turned to go find something else to do. Kon let her go, far more invested in the game than in Cassie just then. The other girls were already off somewhere else, except for Greta. She hovered nearby, looking at them and listening, but not offering her opinion on Kon's proposal.

Kon turned to the last member of the team, still expectantly grinning.

“Your face is going to freeze like that,” Robin told him, his voice as monotone as Batman's.

Kon scrunched up his face, annoyed, but the grin slid back onto it as if in defiance of Robin's words.

“Whatever, Rob, are you in or not?”

“Not,” he said, and then Kon's expression did change – to one of disappointment.

“Whaaaaat, why not?” he said, almost whining the words.

Hypocritically, Robin's expression didn't change at all. “You don't have any money.”

“You sayin' I'm gonna lose?”

“No. I'm saying it's not a fair bet. You don't have money, so if you do lose, you'll weasel out of it. Bart probably doesn't have enough money to pay for all of us. And I don't plan on losing at _Mario Kart_.”

Kon laughed. “Well what about Secret and Slobo?”

“Like I'd play with you losers,” Slobo added. Kon turned to look at him, as if he'd forgotten that he was still standing there. “I'm not gonna buy ice cream for nobody.”

Kon rolled his eyes even more exaggeratedly than Cassie had. “What _ever_. Greta, come on, you'll play, right?”

Robin turned to look at her with that same unreadable expression. Slobo made a face kind of like raising an eyebrow, though it was hard to tell since he didn't _have_ eyebrows to speak of. Still, he seemed curious about her answer.

She wavered for a moment, then finally shook her head. “I'm not any good at video games. I just want to watch too.”

“Rob, you _gotta_ play!” Kon said. “Just me and Bart isn't really a contest.”

“I already told you it's not a fair bet.”

“Well if you're just scared you're gonna lose-”

Robin held up one gloved hand, cutting that off. “If you think you're going to bait me by being petty, you're wrong.”

Before Kon could come up with any kind of comeback, Bart zipped into the middle of the room again.

“Comeoncomeoncomeon,” he said, his words running into each other like he couldn't get them out of his mouth fast enough. “I've been waiting _forever_ for you slowpokes! Let's play, let's play, letsplayletsplaylets...”

He continued on like that, running in a figure eight around Robin and Superboy as if that would urge them to stop arguing and come play the game with him.

“Bart _stop_ ,” Robin said, tensing up with irritation.

Surprisingly, Bart _did_. He screeched to a halt right between the other two boys, and looked back and forth between them. “Are you coming? Come on. You're coming, right?”

Kon shrugged. “I don't know, Bart, I think the game's off. The girls don't like video games and _Robin_ says it's not a fair bet.”

Bart had been smiling like he was born that way, but his face fell, almost comically darkening. “Awwww, _Robin_ , come on, what do you mean? You're great at Mario Kart. Oh, wait, do you think you're gonna beat us? Is that why it's not fair? I'm the best at video games, you know. Or wait! Am _I_ too good, so it's not fair? Or _wait_!”

“It's 'cause I don't have any money, or so he thinks,” Kon said, crossing his arms at Robin.

“It's because _neither_ of you have any money,” Robin corrected him.

“Well, our dads aren't all Batman, but I get _allowance_ ,” Bart said.

Robin's reply came almost as fast as Bart's words – quite a feat for someone who had no actual super powers to speak of. “Batman _is not_ my dad,” he said, stonily.

The air was almost palpably thick with tension. Bart looked so sorry he couldn't figure out what to say. Kon just looked uncomfortable. Even Slobo didn't offer a snicker to break the silence.

“Why don't you guys play for something that doesn't involve money?” Greta suggested.

All four boys looked at her.

“Like what?” Kon asked.

“But I want ice cream!” Bart protested.

Greta flickered uncertainly.

“That might work,” Robin said, encouraging her.

His words had the intended effect, and she brightened again. “Well, how about the losers have to do something nice for the winner? The second place loser just has to do something small, and the third place has to do something bigger.”

“So...so if I win I can still get ice cream?” Bart said, grinning again.

Kon tilted his head, thinking. He was quiet for a long time, creating a somewhat overdramatic pause, before he shrugged.

“Yeah, okay. I can go with that. So you gonna play now, or what?”

Bart spun around in a circle and looked at Robin with such expectancy that Greta actually giggled at him. Robin rolled his eyes, a gesture somehow evident even with the mask hiding them.

“Okay, okay, _fine_ , I'll play.”

Bart actually cheered, zoomed around the room once, then sped off back down the hall where the game system was waiting.

Kon's grin returned in full force, too. He clapped Robin on the shoulder – hard enough that Robin sort of winced, but not hard enough to _really_ hurt – and he followed after Bart.

Robin looked at Slobo.

“I liked the argument better,” Slobo said, then turned to stalk off after Cassie instead of actually watching them play the game.

“Joke's on him,” Robin said to Greta. “Mario Kart causes much better arguments than that.”

She couldn't help but laugh, and they followed after Kon and Bart together.

Predictably, the game didn't actually go that long. Bart _was_ pretty good at games, but he got overexcited and moved too fast for the controller to keep up. He declared his resignation after about 15 minutes, which was longer than Robin thought he'd last.

Kon and Robin were pretty well-matched. Robin was ruthless at it, and he had better strategy. Kon was more of a bully with the item power-ups, though. They had to keep extending the games because they would alternate wins. Eventually, they decided the winner was whoever could win two in a row.

Greta took turns cheering each of them on. She was cheering for Robin when he finally lost. Kon got up and did something like a victory dance around the room, though he did it in the air instead of on the ground. Robin sat there staring at the controller for a minute. He looked irritated, but not _that_ irritated.

Greta floated over and put a hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry, Robin! I really thought you were going to win.”

“Me too,” he said.

He turned off the N64 and stood up. Kon came down from his victory flight, slowly descending with hands on hips, reminiscent of Peter Pan crowing for joy.

Greta looked up at him. “What are you going to ask for?”

“I think I'm gonna wait to decide. I'll collect later. Nice to keep the world's greatest detective on his toes, you know?”

“Offer expires in 24 hours,” Robin said, crossing his arms. When he did that, his cape folded down around him, closing him off. It was obviously a practiced gesture – probably one he'd learned from Batman.

“No way, you didn't say that up front!”

“And you didn't say you were going to wait to decide. You should have already known what you wanted if you won,” Robin said, unmoving.

Kon made a face. “Fine, fine, 24 hours.”

As Robin was putting the N64 away again, Cassie poked her head into the room.

“I hope you're done,” she said, “Because we have trouble.”

She was gone again before they could ask. All three of them followed after her, leaving the N64 – and the bet – forgotten on the floor in front of the couch.

Later on that night, when they all finally came back exhausted, Robin was awake in his room, typing on his laptop. He didn't sleep all that much anyway, being used to being up nights in Gotham. That night, though, he wasn't the only one that was awake.

The door opened a crack.

“Rob,” came Kon's voice in a rough whisper. “Rob, are you up?”

“Come in and shut the door,” Robin replied. “You're terrible at being quiet, and you'll wake everyone up.”

Kon came in, shutting the door behind him. As if proving Robin's point, he didn't shut it quietly at all. Robin looked away from his laptop to offer Kon a frown.

Kon held up his hands. “Okay, sorry! I didn't mean to shut it so hard.”

Robin shook his head slightly and turned back to his computer.

“What do you want, Kon?” he asked, flatly, all business.

“Don't be like that, Rob, I wanted to see you.”

“At two in the morning?”

“Well, yeah, that's when everyone else is asleep,” Kon said. “Unless you're too tired.”

Robin's hands stilled on the keyboard. He stayed there for a moment before reaching up and shutting the top of the computer.

“It's been a long day,” he said, carefully.

“And you're still awake. And anyway, you owe me.”

“So you come ask me for something I'd give you if I didn't owe you?” Robin asked, skeptically.

“Nah, I'm not _that_ dumb,” Kon said, sitting on the bed. “C'mere.”

Robin stood up and went over to Kon, standing in front of him. Kon reached out and took Robin's wrist, then pulled him closer so he was standing between Kon's legs.

“What do you want, Kon?” Robin asked again, but this time his voice was lower, softer.

Kon reached up with one hand and cupped Robin's face, brushing his thumb against the other boy's cheek. “I wanna see your face,” he said.

Robin stiffened at that. “You've seen my face.”

Kon snorted. “Yeah, you took your mask off. Sometimes you take it off. But not a lot of the time. And not at night. You really piss me off, you know that? If I already know what you look like...”

“It's safer if I keep it on,” Robin interrupted.

Kon rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. “I don't care, Rob. You're not gonna back out on me, are you? It's still within 24 hours. And you never said there were any limits to what I could ask.”

Robin sighed. “Like I'd really back out. I'll never hear the end of it if I do.”

Kon laughed a little. “Yeah, that's for sure,” he agreed. “So, come on, take it off.”

Robin was still for another moment, as if he might back out in the end anyway. But then his hands moved, and he reached up to pull the mask off. He was careful about it, but it wasn't really on that well. He'd been planning on sleeping _eventually_ , after all. And he wasn't really worried about it falling off around the team anymore, since they'd already seen his face. The mask was a comfort thing – a way of distancing himself from them, even though they were his friends. He'd taken it off because he wanted their trust, but that didn't mean he needed it to be off all the time. It was a complicated thing in his head.

“Man, you have pretty eyes,” Kon said, looking up into Robin's face.

Robin's eyebrows knitted together. “If you're going to patronize me-”

“I'm _not_!” Kon protested. “I mean it! I like your eyes.”

“I like your mouth. When it's quiet,” Robin replied, and he leaned in to press his lips against Kon's.

Kon returned the kiss enthusiastically, and reached up with practiced hands to find the clasps on the cape, dropping it away from Robin's shoulders. The rest of the costume was trickier, but he had TTK to help him figure it out.

“Someday you're going to have to do that without help,” Robin said, murmuring the words against Kon's lips.

Kon smiled against him, then kissed him again. “Someday,” he said.

Robin didn't have any superpowers to help him get Kon's costume off, but it was decidedly easier than his own. Kon didn't have layers of armor or anything to worry about, and he'd already taken off his jacket and his belts. The rest of the suit came off easily enough; Kon didn't have to worry about getting beaten to a pulp the way Robin had to.

They fell into bed more than laid on it. Kon kept making Robin open his eyes and look at him.

Robin had a moment where he thought it was a _terrible_ idea. It was too close, too vulnerable, too intimate. He couldn't get this close to people. Batman already wouldn't approve of this, for a million reasons, and with his _mask off_...

But then Kon was kissing him again, and his hands were everywhere. He could feel Kon in him and around him, and what Batman thought didn't matter, and whether it was a good idea didn't matter. And actually, it _was_ kind of nice to meet Kon's eyes without lenses between them.

Afterward, they lay with their limbs entwined; there wasn't enough room on the bed to lay apart, really. Robin was surprisingly amenable to Kon laying all over him, for once.

“I thought about asking your name,” Kon said, idly brushing his fingers through Robin's damp hair.

Robin didn't say anything. He had to work to keep from tensing up again.

“You prolly wouldn't have told me, huh? You'd have made up some other bullshit name.”

“I told you-”

“Yeah, yeah, the fakest name ever, _whatever_ ,” Kon said.

Robin decided it was a good time to get up, but when he moved, Kon held on to him.

“No, no, don't be like that, okay, I ruined it. Don't get all weird and batty on me.”

“Kon-”

“I wouldn't really ask, come on,” Kon said, almost whining at him.

Robin laid his head back on Kon's chest and said nothing.

“But you better make it a clause next time we play, 'cause-”

“Next time, if you make my controller stick, I won't concede the bet,” Robin said, his voice sharp.

Kon started a little at the statement. “What? What do you mean, I don't know what you're-”

“My controller was sticking. It had been working fine until you thought you were actually going to lose. Superpowers are cheating at Mario Kart.”

“How did you _know_ that?! I was super slick about it! I didn't even tell you I could use TTK like that.”

“Logically, you can. Anything you can touch. The game console is on the floor, which you're touching. The wire runs all the way up. I'm impressed with the precision, but it's still cheating.”

Kon was shocked into silence for a full three seconds. “Damn, how do you _do_ that?”

“Do I really have to answer?”

Kon half-laughed, and lapsed into silence again for a minute or two.

“But, wait, if you knew I cheated, why'd you even bother giving me what I wanted?”

Robin shrugged. “I like having you owe me,” he said. There was the barest hint of amusement in his tone. That was an easier truth than anything else. He could have called Kon on using his TTK to win if he'd wanted to get out of taking his mask off, but...well, it was still a complicated situation for him.

“You're unbelievable,” Kon said.

“Back at you, Superboy,” Robin replied.


End file.
